PETCO To Slash Number Of Animals For Sale By 30 Percent After PETA Exposé Of Shocking Conditions At Animal-Breeding Mill

Following lengthy negotiations with PETA, PETCO—the US's second-largest pet store chain—will reduce the number of animals for sale in its stores nationwide by 30 percent. The company also will revamp its live-animal vendor certification standards to improve conditions at all of its pet suppliers, starting with Rainbow World Exotics (RWE) in Hamilton, Texas, where a PETA investigation uncovered abuse and neglect of birds and other animals, including the following:

• Rabbits were neutered by an employee using a dull razor and Clorox wipes on the animals' open incisions. One improperly anesthetized rabbit kicked and struggled during the surgery.
• Live hamsters, rats, and mice were dumped were into trash cans, and animals were thrown against the floor in an attempt to kill them.
• Many animals were denied veterinary care, including a baby Goffin's cockatoo named Angel, who wasted away for weeks; ferrets with rectal prolapses; and a guinea pig with a broken hip.

PETCO has committed to PETA to make immediate, tangible changes for animals at RWE, including requiring resting mats, toys, and other enrichment for animals who are used for breeding; having a board-certified avian veterinarian provide training and consultation to prevent the thousands of birds caged at RWE from suffering as a result of inadequate care; securing an independent third party to take complaints from employees who want to report animal concerns; increase unannounced inspections; installing cameras at the facility; and developing training manuals on animal care. PETA has yet to hear that PetSmart—the nation's largest pet store chain and RWE's number one customer—will be taking any effective action on these issues. PetSmart itself is the target of criticism for what PETA calls "pathetically inadequate animal welfare standards." PetSmart's publicly stated position is simply that "pets die, particularly when you deal in volume." "PETCO is taking good steps that should send a ripple through the pet trade industry, but it is astounding that an abusive mill like RWE can still call the nation's two largest pet supply companies its customers," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "The decisions by PETCO and PetSmart not to cut ties with RWE make it clear that to them, the bottom line is far more important than ensuring that tens of thousands of animals avoid pain and suffering. PETA wants consumers to know that animals do not generally fare well in the pet trade. Animal shelters and pounds are the place to go when you are ready to offer a loving, responsible home to an animal." For more information and to view the footage from PETA’s undercover investigation, please visit www.PETA.org.

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